Biography of Alfred Adler
If you were to write the biography of Alfred Adler, you may say that his real existence first began with his brother Sigmund.
Sigmund was the name given to his older brother and it is was also the name of Adler’s biggest rival (Sigmund Freud). Though his brother Sigmund and the Freud that we know were not the same person, many have drawn conclusions relating to the fact that Alfred got along with neither one. In order to begin the biography of Alfred Adler, let us first start with the Sigmund that Adler knew as a child.
Right from the start, Alfred was at a disadvantage concerning life. From the time that he could walk he developed a severe case of rickets, which prevented him from moving until he was around four years old. Though the rickets went away at age four, Alfred was not to get any better by the time five rolled around. When he turned five, he developed pneumonia, and it was at that precise moment that he decided he would become a medical doctor.
After graduating from the University of Vienna in 1895, Adler began to study ophthalmology ... and this is where the biography of Alfred Adler really begins to change. As soon as he began his career as an ophthalmologist, he decided that becoming a general practitioner was a better idea. So, he set up office in a non-affluent area of Vienna, and began to study circus people. It is said that his work with circus folk really helped to shape his ideas concerning organ inferiorities and compensation (two of his more popular ideologies).
In 1901, Sigmund Freud sent Adler a letter asking him to join a group of notable doctors that included Rudolf Reitler and Wilhelm Stekel. Adler agreed to join the group, and they all met every Wednesday at Freud’s house in order to talk about psychology. This group would later become the founders of the psychoanalytic movement. After a few years of studying with Freud and his other colleagues, Adler separated from the group due to differences, and he would spend the greater part of his life trying to argue many of Freud’s theories.
The biography of Alfred Adler ends during the year 1932 after he had converted from Judaism to Christianity and moved to the United States. Adler died of a heart attack while speaking at to a room full of students shocking the entire class. Though many believed that his work would die with him Adler gained a whole new group of followers, and many psychologists still use his theories today.